Vodafone’s sale of its China Mobile stake won’t stop the pair collaborating on future technology developments, chairman Wang Jianzhou told reporters yesterday.
Wang said the two firms are currently developing an LTE data card, which will pave the way for compliant smartphones, at the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in China.
He said Vodafone’s decision to sell its 3.2% stake had actually boosted their collaboration by removing uncertainty from the market, Bloomberg reported, and that the joint LTE development was agreed during a recent meeting with Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao.
The firms will also jointly develop green technologies, Wang told India’s Economic Times.
Wang also revealed that he met with Apple boss Steve Jobs earlier this year, to discuss ways to bring the iPhone to China Mobile’s network.
Apple’s reluctance to tailor the iPhone to China’s TD-SCDMA 3G standard has prevented the carrier launching the smartphone, however Wang remains optimistic an agreement will be reached, Bloomberg said.
Wang reiterated the firm’s guidance of adding 10 million 3G subscribers during 2010, and stuck by its plan to reduce CAPEX by 123 billion yuan (€14 billion) as construction of its 3G network nears completion, WSJ.com said.
Vodafone announced its decision to sell its China Mobile holding for €5.2 billion a fortnight ago, as part of a strategy to offload exit minority stakes and focus solely on majority interests.
The move could also see the carrier sell minority stakes in Verizon, SFR, Polkomtel and Bharti, which will all fall under Colao’s direct control after a restructure in October.